Providence is Another Word For
by The Brat Prince
Summary: A Giddy Brew side story. If you haven't read Giddy Brew, you WILL be confused. Ahem, so basically follows Serendipity's life in the time between Giddy Brew and Poison Fairytales.


**Providence** **is Another Word For…**

_By: Jondy Macmillan_

A/N: A Giddy Brew short story for Miss Fish, who won my Poison Fairytales challenge of "Guess the band whose song title shares a name with this chapter…" Don't worry, to the rest who have tried. We'll have another chapter of Poison Fairytales out soon, and another chance to win.

* * *

Serendipity blinked, burying her head into one of the many plush blue pillows lining her bed. She couldn't believe the day had finally come. It had taken a million arguments and a thorough review of her monthly monetary balance, but her parents had finally agreed to let her get a flat in London. She'd found the cutest muggle place ever, right near Leicester Square, but far enough away that the bright lights and loud crowds wouldn't get to her. It was about time, anyway. Serendipity was twenty one. Every other witch she knew had owned their own place for ages. Even Polaris…

Shaking the thought out of her head, Serendipity sighed. She and Polaris had been going through a rough patch. Four years ago, Serendipity would have hashed it out with her oldest friends. She would have let them tell her it was all his fault or it was all her fault, or someone was at fault. She wouldn't have had a peaceful second to let her muddled mind thrash things out on its own. Of course she had other girlfriends. Dana Wingate and Deianeira Britton from Hogwarts, Imogene Challinsworth from the ministry, and Fable Sixsmith from back home…yeah, Serendipity had a whole plethora of friends who she could talk to. But none of them were as close to her as Prue and Elanore had been.

"_You're being a moron_," Serendipity heard a girl giggle, a ghost of a voice. Maybe it came from outside. There was a restaurant across the street.

Whatever. Maybe she was just being stupid. Decisively, she hopped to her feet, grabbed her favorite check print jacket, and headed out into the chill. November wasn't one of her favorite months; the air was too crisp, the wind biting too hard. It was a long walk to Polaris's studio apartment, and he was probably in the freezing loft above, jamming with Orpheus and Cerulean. She'd practically cried when Dark Symphony had disbanded three years ago. They'd tried to make a go of it still, but with Noah spending all his time at the Willowcrest Academy for Offensive and Defensive Magic and pretty much a surly, brooding mess the few times they got to practice, the band just hadn't been able to make it. Serendipity remembered how happy Noah had always been before Frank's death. She'd never really forgiven him for the permanent marker tattoo he'd left on Polaris's otherwise perfect skin.

Merlin's beard. Polaris. What was she going to do about him? Sure, she was being stupid, but he could have at least been a little more sympathetic. She knew he was busy, what with trying to form a new band and the playoffs for the World Quidditch Cup next year. It kind of sucked major having a really famous boyfriend. She hardly ever got to have him to herself. And she'd known she shouldn't have complained to him about it, and he was a really good sport for merely apologizing and promising to make more time for her. It was stupid Cerulean and Orpheus who'd gone and made all those stupid jokes who had made her mad. And then she'd overreacted and stomped out of practice and…goddess, she really was being stupid, wasn't she?

It took nearly forty five minutes to reach Polaris's loft. She fumbled for her wand, tucked into a slim black purse that carried that, a muggle ID, some sparkling lippy, and not much else. It also held a duplicate of the key he'd given her for her seventeen birthday, jewel encrusted and shining. He'd confessed to her how Prue had slipped him the real one a few days after the girl's demise, and she'd realized that it had been important. So Serendipity had given it back to Prue, burying it with the girl. Polaris and Casey had surprised her a few weeks after the funeral with an nearly-exact replica. Only this one had sapphires and topaz rather than rubies. She'd really appreciated it her next birthday, when they'd lead her to the key's secret. Serendipity had carried the jewel encrusted key ever since.

"Knock knock," Serendipity murmured, whispering the incantation for the loft's spelled key code. Tucking her wand back away, she pushed open the door.

"Bloody," she waited for her eyes to adjust to the beyond dim lighting. And then she recoiled. A beautiful-no, drop dead gorgeous girl with soft ivory skin and thick dark hair was leaning studiously over the keyboard, her fingers flowing over the panel with a sure, precise fluidity. Polaris was behind her, her arms on either side of her hips, steady fingers repeating a strong, simple melody.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Serendipity demanded, dropping her bag. It hit the concrete floor with a dull thud.

Startled, Polaris jumped back, his face coloring. He squeaked out, "Sere!"

The girl smiled, stepped away from the keyboard, and started towards Serendipity with her hand extended. She walked slowly, sinuously, like a model. When she got closer, Serendipity saw her eyes were a cloudy shade of blue.

"Hi," she said in slightly accented English, "I'm Nalini Lovelace."

"Uh…" Serendipity was caught off guard, "Serendipity Watson."

"Nice to meet you," Nalini flashed her a brilliant smile, "Don't get the wrong idea Serendipity. Polaris was teaching me one of the songs on keyboard so I'd get the hang of it before I try it out."

"Try what out, exactly?"

"The song," Nalini grinned, "I'm auditioning for the band."

"Yeah, but that was a bloody fantastic display. I've never seen Polaris get quite so frightened," a new voice chipped in. For the first time, Serendipity noticed Orpheus and Cerulean perched comfortably on the backrest of the shoddy paisley print couch in the far corner of the loft.

"You guys are pricks," Serendipity moaned.

Orpheus slung an arm around Cerulean's shoulders, "That may be, but at least we're well endowed."

He then proceeded to lay a rather passionate kiss on his lover's lips. The redhead responded with a moan. Serendipity frowned. By now she was used to the boys' rather eccentric PDAs. They'd only come out as lovers the year before, explaining that they were definitely straight. But with a preference for each other. (Right. Serendipity was sure she'd heard that one before. She suspected they were bisexual, but had only tried to soften the blow for Cerulean's brothers.)

"After all," Cerulean had conceded, "I need to be with someone as pretty as me."

"And honestly no girl could ever compare to me," Orpheus had agreed.

"We're the only ones hot enough for each other."

Well. They were pretty hot, Serendipity had to admit. Obviously Nalini thought so too, because she made an appreciative noise as they continued kissing.

"You're a drummer?" Serendipity asked, surprised. The only drummers she'd ever met before were Noah, back when he'd still been wild and carefree, or Cerulean's little brother Cherridy, whose mouth moved a mile a minute and was constantly tapping out beats on his leg. They all had seemed a little…OCD to her. Nalini seemed too calm and collected to be like them.

"No."

Serendipity's brow furrowed. From what she knew of the new band, Cerulean would be singing and playing guitar, Orpheus would be on bass and backup vocals, and Polaris would handle the keyboards. That only left drums or some instrument she hadn't known would join the darned thing.

"I play keyboard."

"Come again?"

Polaris finally spoke up, "I'm going to play drums."

Surprised, Serendipity exclaimed, "You play drums?"

"I have many skills," he replied with a cool smirk.

She felt like hitting him. Didn't he know he was only supposed to show off to her?

"Nalini's really good. She didn't even really need Polaris to show her," Orpheus said smoothly, breaking off his kiss, "We're going to give her a trial run at our first gig."

"Now all we need is a second guitarist," Cerulean agreed happily, bouncing in his seat like a five year old, "Because a five piece band will be good luck."

"Oh. Well then," Serendipity frowned, unsure if she liked the fact that this pretty girl was going to be a part of her boyfriend's band. Then again, that was silly. She'd been dating Polaris for nearly five years now. She trusted him.

Actually, Serendipity and Polaris had been dating for so long that her mother and his mother were both pushing them to get married. They wanted grandchildren. As far as Serendipity was concerned, Miriam Morgan and Scarlet Watson could wait for all of eternity. She was nowhere near ready to have children. Her job as an assistant at the Ministry of Magic was only just starting to take off, and Serendipity really wanted to have some time to just focus on her career and on being young. And having fun with her boyfriend, who would also be having fun with pretty Nalini Lovelace…No. Serendipity shook the thought away.

"Uh, Polaris," Serendipity said tentatively, "Can I talk to you?"

Polaris smiled sweetly and agreed, telling Orpheus, Nalini, and Cerulean to lock up after themselves and that they'd be downstairs if anyone needed him. For as long as Serendipity had been with him, they rarely fought. Most of the time, it was due to her own childishness, or some weird instigation from Hargrove and his idiotic boyfriend. She'd only seen Polaris get truly mad at her a handful of times, and the only time he would bicker with her was when he was jealous. Truthfully, she liked it when Polaris got jealous. It happened so rarely because he was such a down to earth guy. Meanwhile Serendipity was hot tempered and impulsive. Someone like Polaris was probably better matched with pretty, graceful Nalini.

He led her into his apartment, a cozy place painted a vibrant sunshine color that was so completely not Polaris that it always made her smile. He'd tried to darken up the place with black leather couches, posters, and dark wooden furniture, but it did little to dim the cheery walls. Taking her hand, Polaris led her through the sitting room, past the kitchen and the restroom, and into his bedroom. The bedroom was the only room in the place painted a different color, mostly because it was a muggle abode and the landlords didn't allow paint changes. But Polaris was particular about his bedroom, and it only took some minor wandwork to cast the spell. The cool blue walls were covered in photo prints that Polaris himself had taken. Some were color portraits of his friends; here Orpheus and Cerulean, there Noah, here Serendipity, there his mum and dad. Others were pictures of places; the bookstore Orpheus was working at, Hogwarts, the underground station at Kensington, the gardens of the nearby park. Still others were abstract prints, of things Serendipity couldn't identify.

There was a bouquet of soft pink roses lying on the bed.

"What's that?" Serendipity asked with a small smile, knowing they were for her.

"You seemed mad," Polaris picked them up, pushing them into her arms, "Orpheus and Cer don't mean to mess with you…"

"They just do it to everyone, yes I know. I did grow up with Casey Hargrove, you know," Serendipity laughed, "I overreacted. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," he murmured, kissing the tip of her nose. Skillfully, Serendipity placed the flowers on the bedstand table, pushing him down onto the bed. She tumbled down after him, innocently exclaiming, "Oops."

With a knowing smile, Polaris pulled her into his arms, not even bothering to pull back the bed covers. He kissed along her neck, making her shiver. Once upon a time Serendipity had thought that the passion, the friction, and all those little tingling feelings he inspired in her would fade once they'd spent a few years together. She thought that even if she still loved him, he would never be able to consistently make her feel so warm, like his skin was electric. She'd been wrong.

"I love you, you know," Polaris whispered into her ear.

"I love you too."

* * *

**One Year Later**

It was pouring. Serendipity hadn't seen rain like this in years. Polaris didn't seem to notice, wrapped up in a sheet, sprawled across her bed like a raja. She rolled her eyes, brushing hair out of his face. He always slept like the dead.

A knock at the door startled her. She didn't have many visitors during normal hours, but at two o'clock in the morning? The only thing she could think of was Ministry workers. Since she'd been promoted to first assistant, they'd been calling on her more often. What if something had happened?

The knock became so frequent that Serendipity feared it might actually get through to Polaris. It was almost like someone was rapping out a song on her front door.

Cautiously, Serendipity slipped out of her bed, wrapping herself in a light blue silk kimono with patterns of koi and rivers emblazoned across the cloth. The floorboards were cold beneath her feet, and she searched until she found her favorite slippers, soft and brown and shaped like monkey heads. They'd been a gag gift from Cerulean. Lastly, she grabbed her wand, just in case.

There were two girls at the door. One wore a baggy gray sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and tight black sweat pants. Her face was hardly visible. The other wore a black cap, underneath which long black hair spilled out. Her body nearly disappeared in the dumpy lilac colored jersey dress she wore. Both were dirty, with mud stains spotting their clothes and even patches of what looked like oil and blood.

"…This is not possible," Serendipity gasped, her voice so faint that she thought the girls hadn't heard her.

"Sere…" the one in the sweatshirt croaked, as though her voice hadn't been used in ages.

"No."

"Sere," the other one tried, her voice sounding nearly as hoarse.

"I'm seeing things," Serendipity said, more for her own benefit than the girls'.

It was the one in the sweatshirt who stopped her from closing the door in their faces. She put her palm, pale and bloodstained, with fingernails that were all too long up against the frame and pleaded, "Help."

Nearly an hour later, Serendipity was seething mad. She'd heard their story, and even still she couldn't believe it. Oh, she wasn't mad at them. She was…well, she didn't know what she felt for them, because her disbelief was still too strong. But she was beyond mad at the idiotic baddie that was Gradaver Moerte.

"How can he use people like this?" she raged as quietly as possible. Polaris, the berk, still hadn't woken.

"I don't know," Prue, for the girl in the sweatshirt, with her short platinum blonde and chestnut colored hair and mossy green eyes was indeed Prue Gelliston, muttered, "I don't get it. Five years, really?"

Serendipity stopped, "You really didn't know?"

"No," Elanore Kingston, the small girl in the cap shook her head, "It's been two weeks. Frank wanted to come too, but he agreed to be our distraction. We got your address from your parents. We didn't know why you'd moved. We thought…we thought you were still seventeen. We thought you'd still be at Hogwarts."

"Even after he told you it'd been so long?"

Prue laughed dryly, "He's not the most honest guy."

Serendipity couldn't help but stare. She didn't understand how this could have happened. How her two best friends, her two long DEAD best friends could possibly be sitting in her living room. She moaned, placing her hand in her head. It wasn't that she wasn't happy, it was just…A) Gradaver was a jerk. B) She still thought she was imagining it. C) Things were so different now. She was worried. Were they still 'best friends'? Obviously to Prue and Elanore, Serendipity was the best friend they had. But would Serendipity be able to accept them? They'd been gone for five and a half years. Even if they'd lived, there was a chance that by now they all would have drifted apart.

"Sere. You're thinking too much," Prue remarked, "While this is kind of mind blowing, I don't think its exactly cause for depression. I mean…we were…dead. Dead. Now we're alive."

"Alive and in for eternal servitude to Gradaver Moerte," Elanore frowned, "I don't know if being dead mightn't be better."

Prue groaned, "Um, I'd rather be alive, thanks. Look, if we're alive, there's a chance we can escape. I think."

"Not the way things have been going," Elanore said despondently.

Serendipity watched her friends carefully. They didn't seem different. They looked, talked, and acted just like she remembered, even if her memories had been softened by time.

"He controls you guys, somehow?" she asked tentatively.

The girls nodded.

"I work for the ministry," she said finally, "I'll see what I can dig up."

"You won't tell anyone?"

"Who would I tell?" Serendipity asked, "No one would believe me."

They finished their tea in silence. Serendipity was wondering if it could be any more awkward when Prue asked with a sly grin, "So, is that Polaris snoring in the other room?"

"Er…yeah, actually," the redhead glanced toward her bedroom.

"You guys married yet?" Elanore inquired.

"You sound like my mother," she replied.

"Is he good in bed?"

"Prue!" Serendipity shrieked. Suddenly, with that, they were laughing, giggling, half-sobbing, and falling into each others arms. Serendipity had never realized how much she missed them until that moment.

Later on that night, after the girls had left, Serendipity snuck back into bed. It was nearly dawn, and Polaris was still fast asleep. Or so she thought, until his arm snaked out to pull her under the covers. Before she knew it, he was on top of her, his lips on hers. Serendipity pulled him closer, willing his body to press every inch of itself against her.

"Have I ever told you you're my world?" he gasped, untying her kimono. In reply, she kissed him hard. She had never been more grateful for his presence.

* * *

**Two Years Later**

"What do you mean you're quitting the band?" Serendipity exclaimed, nearly knocking over the tea cup by her elbow.

Downcast, Nalini replied, "Look Sere, there are just circumstances beyond my control. Things are happening out there…my family needs me."

The redhead demanded indignantly, "Why would you tell me this today?"

"Yeah, this is kind of sucky timing," the blonde attempting to take in the hem of her dress informed Nalini, then proceeded to prick herself with the needle, "Bollocks."

Nalini cast Prue a dirty look, "I never did get where you found these friends, Sere."

"For your information we've known her way longer than-oomph," Prue struggled to free herself from Elanore's tight little grip.

"Sorry, Precious and I'll be outside," Elanore apologized, pushing the taller girl out of the waiting room. Serendipity smirked. Elanore was still sporting the bob cut Serendipity had given her two years ago, the night she'd begged the redhead to rid her of the straggly black dirt clumped hair she'd brought with her from the grave. Meanwhile, Prue's had grown out, so that even the blonde from their Hogwarts days had vanished. They looked nearly unrecognizable. The only people the girls had met were Polaris and Nalini, who'd become one of Serendipity's only other close friends in the past three years.

"They're so obnoxious," Nalini laughed. She didn't like the girls, mostly because she'd been told that their very existence had to be hidden from the other band members. Every time Prue and Elanore snuck out to _Cruciatus_'s gigs, they were dressed head to toe in wigs and disguises stolen especially from the Ministry. They'd met up with Cerulean and Orpheus several times under false names, and luckily no one had recognized them. Today would be a bit more tricky.

"I'm telling you now because right after the ceremony I'm going to have to leave," Nalini apologized, "My dad's picking me up."

"But I'm going to miss you. Do the guys know?"

Nalini shrugged, "Yeah. I asked them to let me tell you."

"Ooh, Polaris is so dead."

"Hey, save it for the wedding night," the dark haired girl giggled, "Anyway, you'll be fine. You have your strange little friends out there. And Polaris. He's a great guy you know."

"Yeah."

"I should have stolen him away back then."

"I would have liked to see you try."

"Hey in there," Elanore's voice came through the door, "The music's starting. I think they're expecting you!"

Nalini squeezed her hand, "You've been a good friend. Don't worry, I'll see you again."

"You better," Serendipity straightened her veil as Prue and Elanore burst through the door. Prue's dress was dark sapphire blue, silky and form fitting with cream accents. She wore a cute blue hat with a veil peeking out beneath, completely obscuring her face. Nalini wore a similar dress with a similar hat, these in lighter shades of cerulean. Elanore's was cloud like and simple, and of course matched completely. Head held high, Serendipity glanced at herself in the mirror one last time.

"You look great," Prue told her. With a smile, Serendipity gestured that they could head out. Quietly, she watched, her heart hammering so hard in her chest that she thought she might just die then and there. After Elanore and Nalini had left, Prue turned to her, saying, "You'll be fine. Calm down."

"I am calm," Serendipity snapped.

"Just imagine Polaris. You love him, right?"

"Right. Now go!" Serendipity pushed Prue out of the room, watching as she made her way down the aisle. When she'd reached her place, Serendipity drew in a deep breath. Reminding herself that breathing was a pivotal part of life, she took her first step.

It was only when she met Polaris's eyes that everything fell into place. She felt like running toward him, rather than walking in time to the music. She couldn't reach him fast enough.

Their vows were simple enough. Eyes crinkling slightly as he smiled, Polaris's voice was loud and clear, "Serendipity."

She loved it when he said her name, like it was something sacred, "Serendipity. I love you. I've been waiting so long for this day to come. You are the most important person in my life. You are my lover, my best friend. I thank the gods every day that I was able to meet my dream girl, the most beautiful, sexy, funny, and intelligent woman in existence. You inspire my every movement. My heart beats out your name. My thoughts are with you even when I can't be. You're forever in my mind, my heart, and today I ask, I beg, that you will forever stay with me."

Serendipity heard a sniffle behind her and knew that Elanore was crying. Sap. Serendipity hid her tears much more gracefully when he slipped that beautiful ring on her finger and mouthed, 'I love you'. Well, it was her wedding. She was allowed to cry a little.

* * *

Kristin I hate you. Why do I write this crap:) 


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